SYD TO LA
On New Years Day 12 of us flew out from Sydney at 11am and arrived in LA at 6am for the longest New Years day of our lives! We instantly met up with Eric Turbedsky, and a crew of young adults from the Sovereign Grace Orange Country church, including three of Turbo’s kids. We had two days of sight seeing and bonding visiting the coastline and seeing where the Jesus Revolution took place in Costa Mesa, Old Towne Orange, Downtown Disney, Beverly Hills and Hollywood. We had such a wonderful time making new friends and exploring this beautiful part of the world
LA TO PHILLY
We then travelled from LA to Philadelphia, landing in the evening, resting up and getting ready for Relay. We got to visit downtown historic Philadelphia with Andy Farmer giving us tour, seeing where the U.S. Constitution was written, where many scenes of Hamilton took place, and places where the great George Whitefield preached to 20,000 people with no microphone. We did this tour with a crew from the church in Roseburg Oregon, it was so lovely to meet them
RELAY CONFERENCE
Finally by Thursday night the RELAY Conference began with 700 young adults from 50 different Sovereign Grace Churches around the US, Canada and the UK. It would be hard to catalogue all that took place in this time and all that God did in our team but it truly was amazing. As we had a debrief it was moving to hear of all the different ways God used the preaching, fellowship, singing and ministry time to affect and change us all. There were sermons from CJ Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, Jared Mellinger, Jon Payne and, the final fantastic message was from our Dave Taylor. We looked at living with extravagant devotion for Jesus, the supremacy of the Word of God, the vital importance of the local church, the desperate need for the Holy Spirit, and the urgency of mission. We also had breakout sessions on a variety of topics. I was able to teach on “When the Mission Calls: Faith for Evangelism, Church Planting and Joyful Sacrifice”, it was a lovely time.
There was such a spirit of unity, joy and fellowship amongst us all and so many people made new friends across our churches. All of us Pastors were deeply encouraged by the time together.
PHILLY TO NEW YORK
We finished our trip by heading to NYC via train for two nights of debriefing and sightseeing. It was a great way to finish the trip in such an epic city.
We are so grateful to God for this trip and very hopeful for the future of Sovereign Grace Churches!
Here is a reaction from Lydia:
“Relay 2024 was such an incredible time of getting alongside other young adults and delving deep into the word of God as well as forming relationships with many from all around the world. A true highlight from the trip for me was worship, where 700 young adults came together lifting their voices to the Lord and it was such a privilege to serve alongside Bob Kauflin and many others during this time. I can’t wait to come home and put what I learnt in the conference into action within our local church.”
Here is a reflection from Esther:
“I am so grateful to God for the amazing Relay conference 2024! It was a beautiful time of fellowship, meeting new young adult friends and listening to the treasure of God’s Word through incredible preaching. C.J Mahaney was a highlight sermon on the first night, afterwards he shared his testimony and the history of Sovereign Grace Churches which had powerful evidence of God’s work; building his church, the body and bride of Christ. In our worship time, it was so sweet to be surrounded by over 700 young adults singing their hearts out to our Lord Jesus in adoration and reverence to him. It has been the most amazing experience encountering God through his Word, worship, prayer and fellowship with his people. ”
